Sunday, December 13, 2009

And now we are 8

As of yesterday morning, our 10 embryos had gone to 8, and all of them looked pretty good. Good enough that they waved me off of a three day transfer and we are going in tomorrow morning for a 5-day version.

Things I am anxious about, but can do nothing to control:

- I have no idea what they looked like on Saturday am (were they 4, 6, 8 cell??) because I was awakened from a fairly deep sleep by the call from the RE's office to tell us to not show up and, well, I'm not at my best at that time. All I know is that the RE who called said that there were still 8 embryos still in the game, and they all looked alike enough that it would be hard to choose which ones to select at this stage, therefore waiting until 5 days would allow the better embryos to present themselves. Which is all good, and makes sense. But I wish I had asked where they were in their splitting. And unless you have an emergency, it's pretty much impossible to get anyone to talk to you on the weekend. So I know nada about where they were on Saturday.

- I know that there will be more attrition between Saturday and tomorrow, and that is what is supposed to happen, but what if they ALL are gone by the time I get there? I made a lot of eggs, and I know that number of eggs produced and age are the two most important prognostic indicators of ivf success, but AAARGH it makes me sort of anxious that they all might suck, since I am now 39.6 years old.

What has really taken up most of our time thinking about is how many to transfer. We have a strong bias against multiples. That's just our personal perspective, and its informed by our own situation and experiences, so we have been thinking through all of our options for this round. We're also really lucky in that a relative is a RE at a big clinic in Boston, and he was in town and we were able to spend a lot of time with him today asking questions and discussing our options.

So it really all comes down to what the little guys look like tomorrow. Nothing to do at this point but take my progesterone and wait....

8 comments:

  1. Eight is great! And although I understand the fear and worry about losing them all, that's unheard of, isn't it?

    I recently posted on my blog about how the Centre for Human Reproduction just announced on their website that they have realized that a woman's eggs don't grow old - it's the environment that the egg matures in that ages, and the environment can be "rejuvenated" by things like DHEA (and my guess would be all the IVF drugs you take, too!). So, all of this to say, your age may not have as great an impact as you think on the outcome.

    Finally, I can totally relate to your concerns about multiples - you are so lucky to have had an RE at your disposal today to mull things over with!

    I will be thinking of you tomorrow, and am sending your 8 lovely embryos lots of positive energy!!!

    Love,
    Maddy

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  2. On to a day five! Hoping all embies are happily dividing and compacting. :)

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  3. Good luck this morning! I'll be thinking about you :)

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  4. Yay for such great news! So excited for you and hoping that all goes well tomorrow. As for how many to transfer, go with your gut. My husband was willing to put back three if the quality was poor, but that made me very nervous. Luckily we didn't have to worry about that, and both of us are fine with twins, so we put back two. I know lots of people, though, who choose only one at Day 5 -- by that point, it's much easier to tell the "best" ones. Plus, if you only transfer one, you'll have one more to freeze!

    All this rambling just to say trust the RE -- and trust your own instincts.

    Hugs,
    Jo

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  5. 8 is a great number. Time for you to sit back and wait, pray for the best results, but don't worry.

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  6. That's pretty awesome! I'm pulling for you and those embryos! Good luck tomorrow!

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  7. My thoughts and prayers are positive for you! Good luck!!!!!!

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  8. Eight is a great number - that's what I ended up with after my initial 14 and the fact that they moved you to a 5-day transfer is really awesome -that must mean that your 8 embies are looking really good. I'm so excited for you! I didn't ask all those questions either - I just showed up on transfer day where they had 2 beautiful blasts ready to transfer and had already frozen several others. This is all going to work out. Try to relax - right! :)

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